Interactive electronic marketing systems in prior art have focused and been designed for use by television viewers and broadcast radio listeners viewing a display screen or at least without exploiting speech synthesis techniques. See Gomersall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,108; Wiedemer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,273; Von Kohorn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,592; Bushnell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,697; Morales-Garza, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,267; Morales-Garza, et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,591,906 and 4,755,871; Broughton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,031; Russell, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,322; Wheeless, U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,934; Matthews, U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,601; Mankovitz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,719; Grosjean, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,612; Alwadish, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,610.
Bushnell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,697 uses a speech synthesizer in an interactive video/telephone transmission system in a very limited manner, related solely to confirming purchases. Coats, U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,800 discloses another speech synthesis technique used in interactive communications.
One problem with prior art electronic interactive marketing systems is that they rely on visual means and do not extensively use speech synthesizer voice delivery (as the instant invention does), thereby requiring extensive viewing to interact. By extensively using speech synthesis capabilities the instant invention provides for the first time practical and convenient means for consumers to interact without substantial visual display with program material heard or viewed via respective broadcast or cable radio or television tuner means. Further, consumers may be connected to a processing computer by wireless communications means, especially those driving automobiles listening to the car radio, to safely interact with program material in a wide variety of ways and in a multi-tiered interactive manner. Moreover, by extensively using said speech synthesis capabilities this invention frees television viewers and radio listeners at fixed locations from having to extensively view a display screen. In this invention the apparatus user need only glance at a display (LED or LCD) to see whether a telephone response option is available to be made.
The instant invention, in one embodiment disclosed herein, effectively encourages said apparatus user to respond to interact with program material through speech synthesizer voice delivered messages, information or prompts. No prior art accomplishes this. Morales-Garza, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,267 and Morales-Garza, et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,591,906 and 4,755,871, while providing means for a pushbutton affirmative response to surveys conducted or questions asked over the television broadcast media, has no provision to encourage responses and actually improve response rates through speech synthesizer voice delivered prompts.
Likewise, Alwadish, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,610, while providing broadcast radio listeners means to request coupons at the push of a button, has no provision to improve response rates and the number of listeners requesting coupons through speech synthesizer voice delivered prompts such as "press button for product! coupons". The instant invention further improves response rates by prompting during order entry or information request specification (see described below) when an unavailable specification is entered.
The instant invention enables merchants marketing a product or service over broadcast or cable radio or television to use a speech synthesizer to voice deliver (via stored or transmitted map information and locator data generated by the receiving apparatus) to consumers, particularly those driving automobiles, directions to a store selling said marketed product or service. Gomersall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,108 in view of Wiedemer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,273 discloses an interactive marketing system using a locator code for visual not voice delivery of location information, thereby lacking provision for mobile, i.e. car, broadcast radio listeners to benefit from such locator functionality.
Further, this invention enables consumers to text scroll subject category listings of a plurality of products, services or program elements and activate autodial of telephone numbers a pre-programmed voice message announcing in predetermined manner the product/service or program element scroll mode. Hashimoto, U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,771 and Toru Baji, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,014 both provide program listings that are visually displayed without voice delivery as in the instant invention.
In addition, said prior art does not provide a means for pre-selecting interactive applications when a program listing of interest is scrolled. The instant invention, however, provides the capability of pre-selecting ordering and information specifications concerning program listings of interest when said listings are scrolled.
The instant invention's pre-selecting functionality thereby enables consumers who will not be listening to or watching a respective broadcast or cable radio or television tuner when a particular program element of interest is scheduled to air or be transmitted to still be able to interact, e.g. order or inquire about a product or service marketed in such program element. In addition, this program listing functionality is intended to simply inform consumers of the station or facility and time scheduled for airing or transmission of a program element so that such consumers can then tune in that station or facility at the scheduled time to interact as disclosed herein.
For all electronic orders and voice contact communications and electronic information request communications disclosed herein a data receive-tuner (radio or television) is interfaced to a telephone communications device. This invention provides at least one consumer or respondent with the built-in authentication and security system already used by such communications device, thereby eliminating the need for said data receive-tuner to have a separate authentication and security system. The existing authentication, security or encryption system used by a broadcast cable radio or television system interfaced to such data-receive tuner may alternatively be used to authenticate apparatus users.
Further, the instant invention uses the same speech synthesizer-based system used for interactive electronic marketing to provide an emergency alert system (EAS) message warning system. This EAS message warning system is designed in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's EAS rules and regulations articulated in 47 CFR Part 11. The instant invention entails a two-step warning system: the first step is designed to visually alert at least one consumer that data representative of an EAS message has been received and is being stored in the data-receive tuner, which visual alert is activated by predetermined data received by said data-receive tuner; the second step is audibly reproducing said stored data representative of said EAS message, which audible reproduction is activated by said responding as disclosed herein.